The recent removal of the 128th BUI marks the completion of a GLRI Action Plan III target to remove half of all 255 BUIs across U.S. Areas of Concern (AOCs).
The 128th Beneficial Use Impairment (BUI), Degradation of Fish and Wildlife Populations, in the Eighteenmile Creek Area of Concern (AOC), was removed in September, fulfilling the ambitious target set in its Action Plan III. It also marks the removal of half of all 255 BUIs. BUIs are designations listed in the 1987 amendment to the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA) that represent different types of significant environmental degradation (see Beneficial Use Impairments for the Great Lakes AOCs to learn more). A BUI removal represents the culmination of years of significant work, coordination, and reporting by federal, state, and local partners. Generally, removing a BUI requires the identification and completion of necessary management actions, or on-the-ground work, that can include contaminated sediment remediation, habitat restoration, or both. After these management actions are completed, the Environmental Protection Agency, state agencies, and the local advisory group evaluate the AOC against established criteria to determine if the BUI has been addressed sufficiently to remove it and consider that specific beneficial use restored.
The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) Action Plan III covered Fiscal Years 2019-2024. The plan established an aspirational goal to remove 128 cumulative Beneficial Use Impairments (BUIs) by the end of FY 2024. Each BUI removal is an important step toward the ultimate delisting of an AOC, since all BUIs must be removed before an AOC is eligible for delisting.
Action plans guide five years of GLRI work toward achieving long-term restoration goals. Each plan sets specific measures of progress and measurable annual targets to document progress.
Under the recently released Action Plan IV, the important work to remove BUIs and delist AOCs will continue as GLRI federal agencies build on past successes and productive relationships with state and local partners.